Dear Parents,

 In this week’s Gospel Jesus tells the parable of the fig tree. 

"A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?'  " 'Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.'" Luke 13:6-9

A simple way I explain this parable to children is that Jesus was really talking about us and about God. God has 'planted' us here on this earth and He expects us to produce good fruit in our life. What kind of fruit does He expect? When He looks at the way we live our life, He wants to see things like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and gentleness. There are naturally times when He is disappointed in what He sees, but He is willing to give us another chance. 

During this season of Lent I ask us to think about what can we do to help us produce the kind of fruit that God expects? We can worship regularly, read His Word, and pray. We can be of service to others and help those in need. Doing something like this will help us to live a fruitful life.  

EXTRACT FROM PARENTING IDEAS 

Last Friday’s shooting of innocent people in two Christchurch mosques is an event that has shaken people to the core worldwide. I have copied an article written by Michael Grose, author of ‘Parenting Ideas’, which I believe may assist you if responding to children. 

"Responding constructively to the Christchurch shooting.            Written by Michael Grose 

While we’d like to protect our children from such events, in reality it’s impossible, as the news coverage is so widespread and the event itself has impacted so many people. The personal nature of this particular tragedy makes it even harder to stomach than some recent natural disasters that have made the news, as awful as they have been. 

So how do you approach this with your children? What do you say to a young child who wants an explanation?  How do you respond to a primary school child trying to come to terms with the fact that one person could commit this offence? How do you respond to a teenager who is angry that a gunman could target one particular community group? There are no easy answers to these questions, but be assured that your child will benefit from talking to you. These ideas may help: 

Be available - Let your child or young person know that it is okay to talk about the events in Christchurch. Listen to what they think and feel. By listening, you can find out if they have misunderstandings, and you can learn more about the support that they need. You do not need to explain more than they are ready to hear, but be willing to answer their questions. 

Filter the news - While we don’t advocate censorship, we do suggest that you take particular care about your child’s exposure to news events. The consistency of images can be frightening for young children who don’t understand the notion of distance and have difficulty distinguishing between reality and fiction. Older children and teenagers will probably be interested in news events, but they probably need an adult available to answer their questions and reassure them. 

Engage in the news with older children - Many issues are now arising from this event that may be of significant interest to older primary-aged children and teenagers. Be prepared to engage in discussions about political leadership, gun laws, the coverage of the event itself by the media and other issues that will emerge. Increasingly, young people are demonstrating that they want to have a voice in shaping the world they live in. Give them a chance to air their concerns and formulate their ideas in the safe confines of home. 

Manage emotions raised - The Christchurch tragedy may raise many emotions for children and young people including sadness over the loss of life, confusion over how such an event could happen, and outrage over injustice. Take your cues from your children and follow the threads that emerge. Demonstrate that you understand how that they maybe upset and clarify their emotions if possible: “It’s understandable to be angry when you hear news like this.”

Moderate your language - Currently, we live in very divisive times. The fact that this shooting was carried out on one particular group demonstrates just the extent of the divisiveness of our community. Encourage kids to be inclusive, steering clear of valued-laden, extreme language such as ‘terrorists’, ‘evil’ and ‘horrors’ when describing the events and the alleged perpetrators. Not only does this type of language encourage children and young people to take a position rather than focus on the problems, it risks desensitising them to the reality of the impact of this event. The use of more sedate, yet descriptive language such as ‘gunman’, ‘awful’ and ‘tragedy’ can take away and remove the emotional sting, while demonstrating the enormity of the event’s impact. 

Keep to a normal routine - Your child may feel powerless. You may feel the same way as that’s what events like the Christchurch shooting does to us. Maintaining the same sleeping, eating and daily routines can help to restore a sense of control over our daily lives. 

Show them how to change the world - Arguably, these are the worst of times in terms of social divisiveness. Our children in many ways are letting us know that they don’t want to continue living this way. So how can they have an impact? Recently a timely clue came my way in the form of a notification from Facebook. Over the weekend, a parent shared an existing message to her Muslim friends as a message of hope. The quote reads:

“Don’t become too pre-occupied with your child’s academic ability, but instead teach them to sit with those sitting alone. Teach them to be kind. Teach them to offer help. Teach them to be a friend to the lonely. Teach them to encourage others. Teach them to think about other people. Teach them to share. Teach them to look for the good. This is how they will change the world.” 

We get that power back when we start to impact the people around us in small ways, making positive changes for the better.

‘Kindness’, ‘helping others’, ‘encouraging’, ‘sharing’ and similar concepts don’t make great political slogans but they form the basis of every strong community - which is precisely what kids need. 

LATE ARRIVALS & EARLY DEPARTURES - I again remind parents of the importance of punctuality. Over the last week our records indicate an average of 30 children arrived late for school each day. It is important children arrive to school by 8.25am and leave on the dismissal bell at 2:30pm. Late arrivals and early departures are disruptive to the children and to their class. Please avoid interrupting children's learning time and where possible make appointments after school. A child who arrives 10 minutes late for two mornings a week throughout the school year would miss the equivalent of 2.5 days of schooling. Punctuality is a trait we need to model and encourage. Thank you for your support and understanding. 

CROSS COUNTRY - Unfortunately, our Cross Country, which was scheduled to be held last Friday, was postponed due to the weather. The Cross Country will now be held on Friday 29 March. The same procedures and timetable will be in place for the carnival. I apologise for any inconvenience. 

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
At Mary Immaculate the staff has an ongoing commitment to professional learning. The staff benefits from attending inservices, in curriculum areas, that assists them in providing quality learning opportunities for the students in their class. The following staff have or will attend professional learning and hence will be away from school. 

ENROLMENTS FOR KINDERGARTEN 2020 - Application forms are now available for collection from the School Office. Enrolment forms can also be downloaded from our school website.

Have a great week and let Christ be our way and life.

Don Spencer

Principal

Congratulations to the winners of Morning Tea with the Principal for last week and this week:

Eve S 2 Green and Isablelle V 5 Gold

Happy Birthday to the following children who will be celebrating a birthday this week:

Dion T, Lily D, Chloe H, Isabelle K, Harrison E, Emily S, Samantha S, Samuel D, Chelsea D

Mary Immaculate Parish invites you to an evening get-together entitled “Our Many Marriages’

Byron and Francine Pirola will present ideas on –how to stay in love your whole life long.

 Date: Friday 5 April

Time: 7.30pm

Venue: Parish Hall

Cost: $10 per couple (light supper and drinks provided)

Free Child-minding

RSVP: Friday 29 March 2019

           Cindy Oliver 0417 490 638

Congratulations to 2 Gold, 2 Blue (their first!), 5 Gold (their 5^th!) and 6 Gold (3 in a row) on earning Gold Stars in the past two weeks well done!! Sadly there are still FIVE classes waiting on their first gold star for the year, let’s hope they remember this week. There are quite a few outstanding loans, please encourage your children to return their overdue books. Thank you.

Premiers' Reading Challenge: All the students in Kinder and Year 1, of the parents that contacted me, are now registered and should receive  their logon details this week. If your child is in K-1 and you would like them to do the Challenge, but you have not let me know, it is not too late. Please send in a note and I will send home the logon details as soon as possible.

All students from Years 2 - 6 are registered – new students may still be waiting for logon details, they will be given out in Week 1 next term. Year 2 will be reading the books together in class and the books will be registered here.

Check the PRC website to make sure the books chosen by the students are on the correct list – if you have too many not on the list they will not be accepted. A reminder that Years 3 - 6 must read at least15 from the lists and may read up to 5 personal choice books; Kinder – Year 2 must read 25 from the lists and may also read 5 personal choice. Have a look at the PRC site:

https://products.schools.nsw.edu.au/prc/booklist/home.html

Our Oliver Library catalogue will also let you know what books from the lists are available in our library. Go to oliver.dow.catholic.edu.au/miev and type ‘premier’ in the search box. Then select the level required and the search results will indicate  available titles.  

Daily reading: Remember to try to read with your children each day, and let them see you reading too – they are good mimics! Holidays are a great time to relax with a book, encourage your children to take time out each day to read. If you are not already members consider joining Campbelltown Library – it is free to join, and provides access to so many more wonderful books. Eagle Vale Central is so conveniently located just down the hill!!

 "Reading for pleasure is the most important way to

advance literacy attainment in children.”

 National Literacy trust UK, 2006

Happy reading!

Mrs Sue Bryant, Teacher Librarian